“Prices perform three functions in organizing economic activity: first, they transmit information; second, they provide an incentive to adopt those methods of production that are least costly and thereby use available resources for the most highly valued pur poses; third, they determine who gets how much of the product—the distribution of income. These three functions are closely in terrelated.”

—  Milton Friedman, book Free to Choose

Source: Free to Choose (1980), Ch. 1 "The Power of the Market", p. 14

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Milton Friedman158
American economist, statistician, and writer 1912–2006

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